Noted Decline Seen in Surgical ED Treatment

(HealthDay News) — Use of penile prosthesis (PP) insertion has decreased for erectile dysfunction (ED), according to a study published online June 22 in the Journal of Sexual Medicine.

Daniel J. Lee, MD, from the Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City, and colleagues assessed use of PP in an analysis of the 5% Medicare Public Use Files from 2001–2010. Factors associated with PP placement, type of PP utilized, and revision were identified in regression analysis.

The researchers found that 3% of the 1,763,260 men diagnosed with ED underwent PP insertion. There was a decrease noted in utilization of PP for ED, from 4.6% in 2002 to 2.35 in 2010 (P=0.01). The decrease was significant across all demographic factors, including age, ethnicity, and geographic location. The likelihood of utilizing PP insertion for ED was increased for men aged 65–74 years, those from the U.S. South and West, and those with Charlson comorbidity scores of >1 (P<0.01). Compared with Caucasian men, African-American men were more likely to have a semi-rigid vs. a multicomponent inflatable PP, and to undergo a revision or removal of PP (P<0.01).

"The surgical management of ED with PP implantation changed significantly between 2001–2010," the authors write.